Anthony G. Becht (born August 8, 1977) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wit ...

tight end The tight end (TE) is a position in American football, arena football, and Canadian football, on the offense (sports), offense. The tight end is often a hybrid position with the characteristics and roles of both an offensive lineman and a wide ...

who played in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). He is currently the head coach of the

St. Louis BattleHawks The St. Louis BattleHawks are a professional American football team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The team was founded by Vince McMahon’s Alpha Entertainment and is an owned-and-operated member of the new XFL owned by Dwayne Johnson’s Alpha A ...

of the XFL. He was drafted by the New York Jets 27th overall in the 2000 NFL Draft. He played college football at

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the ...

. He was also a member of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South divisio ...

, St. Louis Rams,

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division, an ...

and

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The t ...

. Becht was hired by

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

as a college football analyst in 2013. He is also a co-host of the "Football Fan Shop" on the

Home Shopping Network HSN, an initialism of its former name Home Shopping Network, is an American free-to-air television network owned by the Qurate Retail Group, which also owns catalog company Cornerstone Brands. Based in the Gateway area of St. Petersburg, Fl ...

. In 2019, he was the tight ends coach of the

San Diego Fleet The San Diego Fleet was a professional American football franchise based in San Diego, California, and one of the eight members of the Alliance of American Football (AAF). The league began play in February 2019, with the team playing its home g ...

of the

Alliance of American Football The Alliance of American Football (AAF) was a professional American football minor league. The AAF consisted of eight centrally owned and operated teams in the southern and western United States, seven of which were located in metropolitan are ...

. Anthony Becht worked as an Analyst for some Sunday night Football games on Westwood One in 2021.

Early years

Becht, a graduate of

Monsignor Bonner High School Monsignor Bonner High School was an all-male Augustinian Catholic High School in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia. It was located in Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania. Bonner was created in 1953 as Archbishop Prendergast High School for Bo ...

Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Drexel Hill is a neighborhood and census-designated place (CDP) located in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. The population was 29,181 at the 2020 census, up from 28,043 at the 2010 census, and accounting for over a third of Upper Darby's population. G ...

, was 6'5" and 205 pounds coming out of

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. Becht was an all-city, all-Catholic conference and all-county selection as a senior after recording 47 receptions for 693 yards. Becht accepted a football scholarship from

College career

At the end of Becht's college career, he ranked second among tight ends at the school with 83 catches for 1,173 yards, a 14.1 average of yards per catch, and 10 touchdowns. Becht was an honorable mention for All-American as a senior and was named second-team All- Big East as a junior and senior, along with being team captain and MVP. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Marketing.

Professional career

New York Jets

Becht was selected by the Jets with a traded draft pick from Tampa Bay. As a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

for the Jets, Becht played in 14 games, missing two due to an ankle sprain. He was a starter for 10 games and totaled 16 receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns on the season. Becht ranked third among the rookie tight ends with receptions, behind Green Bay's Bubba Franks and Cleveland's

Aaron Shea Aaron T. Shea (born December 5, 1976) is a former American football tight end of the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cleveland Browns in the fourth round of the 2000 NFL Draft. He played collegiately at Michigan. Shea als ...

. In

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a multi-national coalition in an invasion of Afghanistan ...

, Becht started all 16 games and recorded 36 receptions for 321 yards and five touchdowns. He tied former Jets' tight end Kyle Brady for the most receptions by an

AFC AFC may stand for: Organizations * Action for Children, a UK children's charity * AFC Enterprises, the franchisor of Popeye's Chicken and Biscuits * Africa Finance Corporation, a pan-African multilateral development finance institution * A ...

tight end. His five scores were only beat by Colts' Marcus Pollard and Chiefs' Tony Gonzalez. Becht recorded consecutive game-winning touchdown catches in weeks 13 and 14. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains independence from Indonesia and ...

, Becht once again started all 16 games and tallied 28 receptions, 243 yards, and a career-high tying five scores. Becht caught one pass for eight yards and served as a key blocker in the 41–0 win over the Colts in the AFC Wild Card playoff game and recorded three receptions for 14 yards in the AFC Divisional Playoff loss at

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast of the United States, West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third ...

. In

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...

, Becht set career-highs of 40 receptions for 356 yards and he included four TD catches while starting all sixteen games once again. Becht caught a career-best six passes, including a one-yard touchdown, and gained 32 yards at

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

in the season finale. As his final season as a Jet in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, Becht had a career-low 13 receptions, for also lows of 100 yards and only 1 touchdown. He did manage to catch a touchdown pass in the Jets Wild Card win over the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

. In

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

, Becht totaled 1,146 yards receiving with 17 touchdowns off of 133 receptions.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

In his first year in

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater ...

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

, Becht recorded 16 receptions, much like his rookie year, 112 yards but no touchdowns as his career began to slide downward. Becht competed with rookie Alex Smith for the tight end spot, who the Bucs picked up in the 2005 NFL Draft. In 2006, Becht saw himself being replaced by the rookie, Smith. Still, Becht grabbed 18 receptions for 115 yards and a score, from mainly rookie Bruce Gradkowski. In 2007, Becht's productivity decreased even more. He finished the season with only 5 receptions for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns.

St. Louis Rams

On March 6, 2008, he signed with the St. Louis Rams. Becht joined fellow-former Mountaineers

Marc Magro Marc Anthony Magro (born August 23, 1984) is a former American football linebacker. He was signed by the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2008. He played college football at West Virginia. Magro has also been a member of the Mi ...

and Marc Bulger on the Rams squad. Becht played one season with the team before his release on March 12, 2009.

Arizona Cardinals

Becht signed with the

on March 19, 2009. In the 2009–2010 season, Becht had 61 yards on 10 catches, averaging 6.1 yards per catch. He also had one receiving touchdown. On September 3, 2010 Becht was released as part of final cuts for the 2010 NFL Season.

Kansas City Chiefs

Becht signed with the

on August 25, 2011, but was released on September 5. The Chiefs re-signed him on September 16. Becht was released by the Chiefs again, so there could be room for tight end

Jake O'Connell Jake Nicholas O'Connell (born November 6, 1985) is a former American football tight end. He played college football at Miami University. O'Connell was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs in the seventh-round in the 2009 NFL draft. O'Connell atten ...

. On October 26, he was signed once again, by the Chiefs. On December 18, 2011 Becht had 2 catches for 20 yards.

NFL statistics

Regular season

Postseason

Coaching career

On April 13, 2022, it was announced that Becht would serve as the head coach of the

of the XFL in 2023.

Head coaching record

XFL

References

External links

New York Jets bioSt. Louis Rams bioTampa Bay Buccaneers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Becht, Anthony 1977 births Living people People from Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football tight ends West Virginia Mountaineers football players New York Jets players Tampa Bay Buccaneers players St. Louis Rams players Arizona Cardinals players Kansas City Chiefs players College football announcers San Diego Fleet coaches St. Louis BattleHawks head coaches